


memories can be fatal

by unforgvnsam



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Hunt Gone Wrong, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Dean Winchester, Trauma From Lucifer's Cage (Supernatural), Traumatized Sam Winchester, big tw for rly bad anxiety etc etc im so sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 22:08:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17129621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unforgvnsam/pseuds/unforgvnsam
Summary: sam and dean get get locked in a walk in freezer when a hunt goes wrong, and it brings back cage trauma.





	memories can be fatal

**Author's Note:**

> hey, lads, i'm back !! this is terrible and i hate it, but i wanted to give y'all something. half of this was written a while ago, and now i badly finished it off [finger guns].
> 
> ftmsam on tumblr come yell at me

Sam’s eyes snap open and the first thoughts to run through his head, as incoherent as they are, are “Oh G-d. I’m in the Cage. Lucifer is torturing me. Oh G-d.” Cold chains dig into his wrists and his feet aren’t even properly touching the floor. A chill runs through his body and his head feels foggy. Something in the back of his mind, something sensible and far away, is telling him that he’s drugged. That he’s not where he thinks he is. That this is just a hunt gone wrong. But it’s so far away.

His surroundings are dark but he can vaguely make out something— a body? against a wall a few feet to his right. Or is it his left? His head feels _really_ bad and the panic that’s causing all the nerves in his numb body to tremble isn’t helping.

He wants to call for help but Lucifer doesn’t like that. He’ll just be more violent and Sam will just _hurt_ more _everywhere_ . And it’s not like any help will actually come way down here. _Everyone has given up on me._

The figure against the wall moans softly and that doesn’t sound like Michael or Adam and it’s definitely not Lucifer. It sounds like… G-d, it sounds like _Dean_ though. Why is he here? Why the _fuck_ is he here?

Sam’s eyes aren’t adjusting to the dark very well and he swallows hard. “Dean?” Saying anything without Lucifer’s explicit permission is always a bad idea but he needs to know if it’s really Dean and not just another hallucination. “ _Dean_.”

G-d, it’s too cold. Way too cold.

It’s tight and cold and empty and dark and so… so dooming. 

“Dean, please.” Sam stumbles as he tries to turn towards the slumped figure, and he gasps as the chains pull at his shoulders and his wrists. He’s slowly adapting to the chilled darkness, and he can just barely make out a pale face behind an arm that’s strung up to the wall. It looks like Dean’s cheek. Please be Dean’s cheek. “Dee, don’t leave me here alone. Please.” Sam’s voice is trembling a little, but not anymore than the nerves in his arms and in his legs and in his hands and in his chest.

He lets himself himself collapse as much as he can, too tired to hold himself up by the arms anymore. He’s not sure how long he’s even hanging here and everything aches. “Wake up, g-ddammit!” It’s a half-hearted yell this time, his voice cracking hard and he wants to cry. His head is a wreck right now and he’s trying so hard to hold onto his sanity and calm but it’s slipping too quickly. “I fucking _need_ you.”

“Sammy?”

It’s a really quiet and confused whisper and Sam isn’t sure if he’s just hearing things from the dim corners of what feels like a freezer. Or maybe he’s remembering something. _Fuck_ , he’s not sure.

“ _Sam_?” It’s louder and more worried this time and it’s definitely his big brother.

“Dean,” he sobs his name like it’s a fucking prayer.

“Sam, are you okay?” The words sound like they’re stuck in Dean’s throat, like he has to force them past his own panic and worry for Sam.

Sam tries to respond, to at least nod, but he’s falling apart and passing out sounds nice and he has tears building in his eyes and now one’s slipping down his face and this is all terrible.

Lucifer is going to hate this.

“Hang on, okay? I’m gonna get you out of there.” Dean is talking, just blabbering about G-d knows what while he’s struggling to pick the lock with his left hand. “We’re both gonna get out of here. Gonna go find those motherfucking vamps and cut their damn heads off.”

Why the hell is he talking about vampires?

The nagging feeling in the back of his brain is still there, existing stubbornly, insistently. He’s forgetting something. Missing something. Something’s wrong.

Dean groans loudly in relief and Sam flinches at the sound of metal hitting metal as Dean trips to his feet and towards Sam. “You okay?” His hands somehow feel warm against Sam’s freezing, tear stained face. “Sam, are you _okay_?”

“Please just get me out of these chains, Dean, oh g-d, please.” Dean is already doing it before Sam can finish his sentence but now that Sam has started talking he’s not stopping. “Quick. Please. Lucifer, he’s gonna—”

Dean meets his terrified but somehow vaguely blank gaze instantly at that, shock and horror and _sadness_ in his eyes as he untangles one of Sam’s from the icy chain, gently trying to rub it to bring back proper blood circulation before awkwardly reaching up to get his other arm away from the trap. “Sam, Lucifer’s not here.” His voice is soft and pained. “He’s not here, I promise. He can’t hurt you.” The other cable slips away from Sam and Dean wraps his arms around his limp body, moving behind him and letting them both drop to the floor against one of the walls. Sam’s partially slumped on top of him, one leg slung over Dean’s and his head pressed against Dean’s shoulder and neck. Dean doesn’t make any effort to push him off or away.

“We’re in a _meat locker_ , Sammy,” Dean mumbles. His voice reminds Sam of nights a long time ago. Years, decades, centuries, maybe fucking _millennia_ ago at this point… It reminds Sam of nights when he’d have nightmares as a little kid and Dean would tell him dumb, funny stories to distract him. But sometimes he’d just describe the room to Sam. The peeling walls and the lumpy beds and the tables with the old, flickering lamps and old, flickering TVs almost dangerously balancing on top of them. He’d just describe everything in the room because he always said that none of Sam’s nightmares could get every detail of every motel room exactly right and he needed to prove that to Sam. That they were just nightmares and that he was okay.

“There are four walls and it’s pretty small and cold. Some vampires drugged us because I guess we were dumb and we thought we could take them.” Dean huffs out a laugh and it feels like he’s gently rocking Sam. “They dumped us in here, chained us up. I don’t know why they didn’t just get rid of us for good. Maybe they know we have people who would come after them if they ganked us.” He pushes Sam’s hair out of his face. “We’re gonna get out of here though. And I got you, little brother. I got you.”

Sam nodded his head shakily. They sit in silence for a minute while Sam catches his breath a little longer before he hesitantly tips his head up to look at Dean’s face. “So you’re sure Lucifer isn’t here?”

“He’s not here, I promise.”

“Okay.”

Only now that he’s starting to calm down, does he realize how violently he’s trembling, and he’s not sure if it’s because of the cold or the panic.

Dean rubs his knee soothingly. “Hey, you’re okay, I promise. You’re fine.” He touches his own forehead and winces. “They really got us good, huh?”

Sam’s shoulders tighten when he sees the deep cut on Dean’s temple. “Are _you_ okay?” He tries to reach for Dean’s face, worried, but he’s so stiff he can barely move.

“Hey, I’m good. I’m completely fine. I think this is just where they knocked me out." Sam stares at him. “I’ll be _fine_.”

Sam wants to argue, but he’s too tired and he knows it’s no use right now.

“Okay, we need to get out of here, buddy. Can you stand up?” He pulls away slightly, starting to get up, and Sam shudders at the loss of heat. “I’ll help you, come on.” He grasps his hands and supports his weight as they both stumble to their feet.

They limp across the room to the door, and Dean lets Sam slide down the wall to the floor again. “Just wait right there, Sammy. We’re almost out.”

Sam nods and closes his eyes.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep on me, man. I can’t just carry you out.” Sam is extremely aware of how loudly his Dean’s teeth are chattering.

“Mmhm. I’m just... tired. I w-won’t fall asleep. As long as you don’t take too long with that door.”

“Shut up.”

Sam coughs when he tries to laugh and smiles weakly instead.

“Seriously, man. Shut up. We’ll be out of here soon. Save your breath.”

He’s not sure how long Dean takes with the jammed lock, because as hard as he’s trying to stay present, he’s having a hard time focusing. He jerks his head up when he hears Dean finally slide the door open, trying to jump to his feet quickly, but tripping in the process.

Dean grabs him, pulling him up properly. “Whoa. Whoa, dude. You’re fine. I just got the door open, sorry.”

“It’s ok-okay.”

Dean tightens his grip on Sam’s shoulders and gently tugs him through the the doorway. They shuffle their way across the warehouse, Sam flinching at every slight creak that he hears.

“You wanna wait here while I get Baby?”

“No!” Sam inhales shakily. “No. Please.”

“Alright, okay. It’s just that the trees are pretty thick, okay?”

“I don’t care. I don’t... I don’t wanna stay alone.”

It’s an uncomfortable walk through the woods to where they’d left the Impala but it’s ten times better than it would have been to have been left alone.

Sam falls into the seat when Dean opens the door for him, his eyes closing tiredly. Dean gets in on the other side as quickly as he can and Sam reaches for him, still too anxious not to be close.

“You know what, I’ll just let Jody and Donna know about this one because we are  _not_  going after these vamps right now.”

“Dee, not for m—”

“Pfft, no, man. This is totally for me. I need a g-ddamn break after pretty much  _carrying_  you all the way here.”

Sam rolls his eyes but smiles.


End file.
